Photo gallery: Strade Bianche, road cycling’s sixth Monument?

Photos by Jered & Ashley Gruber, Kristof Ramon and Jojo Harper

Is it time we added Strade Bianche to the exclusive list of road cycling’s Monuments? Is it time we put it on the same lofty pedestal occupied by Milan-San Remo, the Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix, Liege-Bastogne-Liege and Il Lombardia? There’s little doubt Strade Bianche has grown to become one of cycling’s most loved races, and its popularity only seems to be increasing.

Those beautiful white gravel roads, the sweeping Tuscan hills, the thrilling battles it’s played host to in the past 13 years — there’s a lot to like about Strade Bianche. But at “only” 184km (the Monuments are between 240 and 300km long), and with its rather young history (the youngest Monument is the Tour of Flanders, at 106 years old) Strade Bianche isn’t quite in the same league as the world’s biggest one day races.

Or is it? Does it really matter that it’s younger and shorter? Or maybe stacking Strade Bianche up against the Monuments is simply a distraction — maybe all that matters is that it’s one of the coolest races on the planet and a joy to watch, every single year.

The gallery below documents both the women’s race (shot by Jojo Harper for Kristof Ramon) and the men’s race (shot by The Grubers and Kristof Ramon), both of which were raced this past weekend. Follow the links for video highlights from the women’s and men’s races.

May we be talking about Strade Bianche for many many years to come.

The fifth edition of the women’s Strade Bianche was raced over 136km with eight gravel sectors.

It was only van Vleuten’s second race back since breaking her leg at last year’s Worlds.

MTBer Annika Langvad finished second.

Kasia Niewiadoma was third — her fourth podium finish in the race’s five editions. She’s yet to win one.

Ruth Winder was in tears after finishing 11th on the day.

Tiff Cromwell’s thousand-yard stare tells the story of a very hard day on the bike.

The men’s Strade Bianche is into its 13th edition.

Raced over 184km, the race featured 11 gravel sectors.

Tosh Van der Sande crashed …

… while his teammates set the tempo up front.

The enigmatic Carlos Betancur was the last rider to finish inside the time cut, 22:57 behind the winner.

Jens Keukeleire needed a new front wheel after a puncture.

Alberto Bettiol had a mid-race cramp and needed a brief massage before continuing on.

Nico Denz and Diego Rosa were the last two riders from the day’s early break.

And then it was just Rosa.

A small bunch eventually caught Rosa, with Julian Alaphilippe and Simon Clarke among them.

Previous winners Tiesj Benoot and Zdenek Stybar were up there too. Benoot would go on to finish fifth, with Stybar fourth.

It’s lonely out the back. Luca Raggio eventually finished outside the time cut.

Young gun Robert Stannard was 49th in his first Strade Bianche.

A late attack from Jakob Fuglsang created the final selection: he and Alaphilippe. Three-time CX world champ Wout Van Aert was there for a time, got dropped, caught back on, then was dropped again.

Fuglsang hit the front on the steep final climb into Siena, but Alaphilippe was able to power past …

… to ride into the Piazzo del Campo alone. Well, sort of.

It’s Alaphilippe’s fourth win of the year in what was his first Strade Bianche.

For the second year in a row, Wout Van Aert was there towards the end couldn’t quite match the very best.

He eventually finished third, just like last year.

Benoot battles hard up the last climb, with Stybar on his tail.

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